| THE LAUNTON PANTOMIME
“Simple Simon” is the twenty third Panto from The Village Players. Shows have been in Launton Parish Hall, in Launton Sports and Social Club, and at Cooper School. The group grew from the Launton-Gavray Twinning Association, but there is no formal link between the two organisations.
Launton Pantomimes have always used original scripts. Early shows were collaborative. “The Grand Old Duke of Launton” was the first written by Martin Evans. Since “Mother Goose” original music has been composed by Steve Webber. “Simple Simon” introduces a new writer, Rod Fine. All three live in Launton.
The early Pantos were put on in the Parish Hall immediately after Christmas, as family parties. A bucket was passed round for donations to cover the costs of the production.
Since 1991, the Pantomime has set out to raise money for charity and good causes, and provide great entertainment for its audiences and fun for its cast.
“Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Launtingham” (1986) was the first show, based on Robin Hood, weaving in local characters, events and references.
“How The Wild West End Was Won” (1987) was about a developer’s attempt to build on the Island Pond Field in Launton, and was based on western movies. The field is now Launton’s Island Pond Millennium Wood. From 1988 shows transferred to the Sports and Social Club. “Cinderella” (1988) and “Aladdin” (1989) were put on there: both have been revived by the Players.
The 1990 show moved to the February half term so, in Panto topsy-turvey tradition, the 1990 show took to the stage in February 1991. The change meant more rehearsal time, hall bookings were easier outside the main holiday period, cast commitments around Christmas didn’t conflict with putting on a show, and audiences were easier to find in families looking for entertainment over the dark days of the February half-term.
“The Grand Old Duke of Launton” (February 1991), the first Panto written by Martin Evans, was put on in the Launton Sports and Social Club. It was also the first to set out to raise money and donated £170.50 to local good causes.
In 1992 the Players secured a temporary performance licence for Launton Parish Hall which became the permanent home for the Panto until 1999. For one week in February it was transformed into a small, colourful and very cosy theatre, with raised seating, professional theatre lights and a full service front of house.
“Robinson Crusoe” (1992) featured a chorus in grass skirts and little else, and the heroic Sid Seagull: it sold almost every seat in its four-night run, and raised £450: most of this was given to the Parish Hall to help replace the badly-rotted floor.
“Dick Whittington” (1993) turned people away at the door on three nights, introduced Launton to The Whistling Barmen (who returned for “Mother Goose” in 2002) added a marquee to provide extra space, and donated nearly £900 to charities, mainly to the Parish Hall and Bicester Community Hospital.
“Snow White” (1994) added a fifth performance: four were sell-outs. The show raised over £1,100 with donations to the Launton Branch of ICRF and the Parish Hall.
“Ali Baba” (1995) sold out the Saturday afternoon show on the first morning, and raised £1,500: half was given to the Parish Hall in memory of Simon de la Bedoyère who had been involved in early Pantos.
“Jack and the Beanstalk” (1996) had a run of six shows, adding one on Friday afternoon. Over 96% of all tickets were sold. The show raised over £2,000 from which The Players replaced the Parish Hall piano, still a part of Parish Hall equipment available for all to use.
“George and the Dragon” (1997) again raised over £2,000 most of which was given to the Launton branch of ICRF in memory of Penny Young, a long time helper and supporter.
“Puss in Boots” (1998) was the show that broke the Parish Hall. Every ticket for all six performances was sold a week before opening night. The licensing authorities gently pointed out, after the run was over, that the capacity of the Hall (101 people) was total capacity (all people), not the audience alone. With a cast and crew of 45, this didn’t leave much space for an audience. The Players had to move home. A new Performance Hall had just opened at Cooper School and the 1999 show moved from the snug Village Hall to the wide open spaces of the new venue. As most children from Launton go to secondary school at Cooper, the link with the village community remained.
The Cooper Performance Hall had twice the capacity, raked seating, a large stage area, multi-level acting space, and purpose-built lighting and sound equipment, and a comfortable foyer. The move meant the end of the marquee - mourned by some but not by those who had to handle it in a cold and damp February.
“Sleeping Beauty” (1999) was the first Panto at Cooper School. Some quick adjustments to the set and staging filled the larger space and the show played to just under 900 people in its five shows, raising over £2,350.
“Cinderella” (2000) was The Players’ second try at the classic story. With a towering set and cast of over fifty, it sold 998 seats and gave away £3,000.
“Aladdin” (2001) was another reprise for The Players. There was a brand new script and the show filled the acting space with colour and movement, and featured the amiable camel Camilla and a Magic Carpet special effect. The Players gave away £2,500.
“Mother Goose & Son Honk! Honk!” (2002) had a larger cast than any previous show, and spectacular special effects including a goose that ‘flew’ round the Hall. It took the basic “Mother Goose” story line and added the skate-boarding punk Greg as the idealistic teenage goose. “Mother Goose” was the first Launton Pantomime with original music, written by Musical Director Steve Webber. It sold over 1000 seats, and donated £3,500 to charity.
“Red Riding Hood ”(2003) had an original script by Martin Evans and original music by Steve Webber. Set in historic Bernwood Forest it wove current references (a management consultant villain) into the story. “The Bicester Advertiser” said, ‘scenic effects were smoothly organised on the wide stage ... with a special lighting effect for a children’s dance in the forest.’ It added £3,850 to the Players’ total donations.
“Ethel and the Pirate King” (2004) brought a brand new story. The title came when the writer (Martin Evans) was asked about the show. He hadn’t got a title and, misremembering a scene from the film “Shakespeare in Love”, said it was “Ethel and the Pirate King” and the title stuck. Although not a traditional Pantomime story, it had all the classic elements: a Dame; women dressed as men and men dressed as women; a young and dashing hero; a beautiful heroine; a seriously nasty villainess; talking animals; spectacular scenery; a messy scene; and stunning costumes. It raised a further £3,500.
“Babes in the Wood” (2005) told a more traditional story, set in Bernwood Forest, the woodland area around Launton. Alongside normal Panto characters, it featured a group of teenagers as the backing group (The Launtones) for the Principal Boy, Lenny. £4,250 was raised and given to good causes.
“Dick Whittington” (2006) was another reprise for the Players. A new script by Martin Evans, original music from Steve Webber, a cast of over 45, and hundreds of costumes, was a change from the 1993 show in Launton Parish Hall All those costumes affected the money raised, and the 2006 show gave away £4,150.
“Humpty Dumpty” (2007) was the Player’s 21st Birthday show and was built around the four lines of the “Humpty Dumpty” nursery rhyme. Writer Martin Evans and Musical Director Steve Webber imagined a magical world beyond the Northern Lights where disaster happens when the smiling Egg on the Wall is smashed, and a bad-tempered witch escapes to cause havoc in the city of Launvik. Most of the money raised was donated in memory of Dave Wiggins who had been actor (he played the Dame, in “Ali Baba”), dancer, stage hand, and lighting supremo for Launton Pantomime for many years: £1,500 each went to the National Deaf Children's Society and National Diabetes Association: a further £1,000 was split among other causes.
“The Adventures of Sinbad” (2008) was based on stories from A Thousand Nights and One Night. With a larger cast than ever, a chorus with a significant number of newcomers, exotic locations (the South Sea Island of Carabish, the South Pole, and Indian temple...) and grass skirts (not the same ones as used in “Robinson Crusoe” in 1992) the show filled Cooper Performance Hall with a riot of colour and sunshine.
The highlight of the show for many was the Rapping Rasta Oyster in his undersea cave, guarded by the angel chorus of singing bats - just one of the glorious range of special effects. “Sinbad” played to just under 1,000 people and gave away £4,000 to 18 good causes
This year's “Simple Simon” sees a major change as Rod Fine takes on the script, while Martin Evans focuses on directing the show: Steve Webber maintains the strict tempo of Launton Panto as Musical Director and composer of all the music and songs.
There has been continuity in the shows and the people of the twenty three Pantos since “Robin Hood” Director (Martin Evans) and Producer (Celia Evans) have been with Launton Pantomime since the first show. Off-stage Pat Tucker, author of “Entertaining Launton” (see the advert elsewhere in the programme) has been involved in all shows, except in the year she broke her wrist; and Hilary Bradshaw (the prompt for the past seventeen pantos) has been involved in most shows.
A number of the cast and crew have been involved in at least 20 of the 23 shows. At the same time, some of the 2009 cast are Pantomime virgins, on stage for the first time since a Primary School Nativity performance or a Secondary School Shakespeare play.
Since “The Grand Old Duke of Launton” set out to raise money, and gave away £170.50, the Launton Panto has donated over £45,000. This money has been raised while playing to nearly 14,500 people at 102 performances which have brought laughs and pleasure, and given many children their first experience of live theatre.
Local businesses have supported Launton Panto with advertising and donations in kind, and have helped with publicity. Schools and other groups in Launton, in Bicester, and in surrounding villages, have loaned equipment and given promotional support.
Since 1986, in different venues and with different casts, supported by many different musicians and an expanding repertoire of special effects, the spirit of Pantomime has survived: music, songs, romance, dance routines, a love story, magic (real and imaginary), animals more human than the humans, animals that talk, the broker’s men, a children’s chorus, specialty acts, men dressed as women dressed as men, women dressed as men pretending to be women, and, always, an enthusiastic audience.
The Panto will still transport you to magic lands where anything is possible: where dragons breathe fire; where knights are bold; where Princesses are forever sixteen; where good triumphs over evil; where carpets fly and animals speak; and where there is always a happy ending.
And, this year, we are taken to a world where a well-known rhyme come to life; where an unlikely animal wanders round a fair ground; where magic can clean a pie factory; where a bright young man applies production-line technology; and where boy meets girl and Lord meets Dame and they all find true love.
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